Biggest mistake job hunters make

Whether you've been unemployed for six weeks, six months or a year, the emotional drain on your mental health and well-being may have you at the end of your rope. You've bought the suit, polished your resume and printed out business cards branding you as an expert in your field. You've emailed your resume to dozens of open positions, proudly presenting your professional skills and achievements. You carry your cellphone with you wherever you go, eagerly anticipating the moment your dream employer will call you in for an interview. But as the weeks go by, no one calls. You start to despair and feel hopeless. You wonder, why hasn't anyone responded? What am I doing wrong? How long do I have to go on being unemployed?

You can blame the bad economy. You can blame the lousy job market. You can blame your potential employers for being ignorant and overlooking your resume. You can blame yourself. Or, you can learn from an expert job recruiter, change your tactics and learn what it takes to get employed, get back to normal and build a richer life.

I recently spoke with Tony Beshara, America's top job recruiter and author of the new book "Unbeatable Resumes." Read an excerpt from our interview below, and then listen to the full interview at http://www.richerlife.com to learn how to land that job and get back to normal.

Q: What is the biggest mistake job hunters are making?

Tony: The biggest mistake people make is they keep hitting that send button, confusing activity with proactivity. These guys are getting 120 resumes for every opportunity. A full 60 percent of the time, that resume isn't even read by the person who's going to do the hiring. It's read by somebody in HR or some third party person who's hired to look through resumes for buzz words and specific qualities or characteristics.

Sending a resume is not getting a job. It's one activity that might be involved in getting a job, but you've got to find a hiring authority who intends to hire somebody. You've got to call them up, explain who you are, why you are a good employee and try to get an interview with them. Now, if you have to send a resume, then I guess you have to send a resume, but you call them before you send the resume. Then once you send the resume, call them again after you send it.

Now people come back and say, "Well, they don't even look at all of these. They've got these websites that I've got to send my resume to, and I never get any response to it." Yeah. You're right! That's because you're using that silly website. There're 7.5 million businesses in the United States. You know what the average size business in the United States is -- how many people are in it? Sixteen employees. Usually, people say, "Oh, it's 110." No, no, no. Sixteen people. You think those people are sitting there at the website, waiting for somebody to send their resume in? No, no, no. They're doing whatever they do. They're working at an engineering firm, or design firm, or grafting firm, or manufacturing firm, or distribution firm, or whatever. They're not sitting there, waiting for you to send your resume. They just don't do that. So, you've got to pick up the phone, you've got to give them a call, say, "Robert, this is Tony. I'm a good employee. I'd like to come by and talk to you about it."

Over the course of an hour, Tony shares a lot more great (and often counterintuitive!) advice. Learn new skills and tips to help you get a job.

(Robert Pagliarini is a CBS MoneyWatch columnist and the author of "The Other 8 Hours: Maximize Your Free Time to Create New Wealth & Purpose" and the national best-seller "The Six Day Financial Makeover." Visit YourOther8Hours.com.)